


the mechanics of an ice-cream date

by desitonystark



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Alternate Universe - Vampires Are Known, Established Relationship, Fluff, Human Tony Stark, M/M, POV Outsider, POV Steve Rogers, Vampire Bucky Barnes, Vampire Steve Rogers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 21:34:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28892211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/desitonystark/pseuds/desitonystark
Summary: winteriron winter stocking exchange fill for the prompt: Tall beefy broody vampire Bucky is soft for his human boyfriend Tony
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark
Comments: 17
Kudos: 187
Collections: Winteriron Winter Stockings 2020





	the mechanics of an ice-cream date

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MassiveSpaceWren](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MassiveSpaceWren/gifts).
  * In response to a prompt by [MassiveSpaceWren](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MassiveSpaceWren/pseuds/MassiveSpaceWren) in the [winteriron_winter_stockings_2020](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/winteriron_winter_stockings_2020) collection. 



> @massivespacewren: i tried to keep it short and sweet and focused on Bucky and Tony so that i didn't go off on any tangents, and was very careful to make sure that Bucky doesn't call Tony 'doll' anywhere 🤭, so i really hope you like this!!

“James!” Tony calls from the other side of the corridor, and Steve represses the urge to gag at the way his brother’s face completely transforms when he catches sight of his boyfriend; his lips curling up from their perpetual scowl and his eyes softening. They have one of those relationships that’s so cute it’s almost nauseating, and making fun of Bucky for the way he softens around Tony has long since gotten old.

“Hey sweetheart,” Bucky says softly when Tony gets close enough, pulling him in by the sides of his sweater for a kiss. They keep it chaste, probably because Bucky knows that Steve will throw him across campus if they start making out in front of him. “How was your day?”

Tony fits under Bucky’s shoulder, left hand going up to intertwine his fingers with Bucky’s where they’re hanging off his shoulder, and they fall in step with Steve, walking towards Steve’s shared apartment with Bucky. Steve had put his foot down at the beginning of the year and refused to live with them as a couple, on the basis that he saw enough of their domesticity outside of his house, but it didn’t matter much, because Tony was around so much that he might as well pay rent and lessen the burden on Steve’s bank account.

“It was okay,” Tony wrinkles his nose, “Rhodey’s still in Philly with his folks, so I was mostly on my own. I tried to convince Bruce to give me company, but I think his exact words were ` _I am a PhD student Tony, I don’t have time to sit in undergrad classes because you’re lonely’._ ” Tony makes a face, as if the thought of someone voluntarily not spending time with him was a completely foreign concept to him.

“You should’ve told me,” Bucky says, “I woulda come given you company. Don’t like the idea of you lonely.”

“And who’s going to attend your classes?” Steve asks dryly, shooting Bucky a meaningful look, “Or have you forgotten that you have your own degree?”

“I am 150 years old Stevie,” Bucky replies, glaring at him to shut up, “and I can’t die. I think I can miss a couple classes to spend with my boyfriend.”

“Steve’s right,” Tony says, sounding incredibly put out by the idea of agreeing with Steve, “you shouldn’t give up on your degree for me. That’s important.”

Steve manfully resists the urge to snort, because everybody except Tony has cottoned onto the fact that Bucky doesn’t actually go to MIT. Bucky lying to the human about MIT because he was too shy to come straight out and admit that he had a crush on him was hilarious in the beginning, but it’s been three years, and the lies are piling on each other dangerously.

Steve still maintains that Tony isn’t going to care that much if Bucky comes clean, but Bucky refuses to, claiming that he’s waiting for ‘the right time’. Until he does though, Steve takes great pleasure in reminding Tony every chance he gets about Bucky’s degree. He wants to see how much longer Bucky can keep lying out of his ass before it all falls down on him.

“How was that test you said you had coming up?” Tony asks, and Steve smiles so widely his cheeks hurt, “yeah Buck, how was it?”

“It went well sweetheart,” Bucky says through gritted teeth, attempting to swat at Steve without jostling Tony much, “won’t hear back for a couple weeks though.”

“I’m sure you did amazing,” Tony pats him consolingly, “in the mean-time, we should celebrate. Ice-cream!!” He steers them away from the apartment and towards the tiny ice-cream shop they discovered a year back, run by an elderly spanish couple that had adopted their motley group of friends as their pseudo-grandchildren.

“Have you,” Tony lowers his voice the way he always has when talking about Bucky’s _unique_ diet, “fed today? I know you can’t keep anything down otherwise.”

This, more than anything, is why Steve puts up with the real life romcom that is the Tony and Bucky show. Vampires have been out for years now, but there’s still a healthy amount of apprehension and fear surrounding their kind, the way there is about anything that people consider ‘other’.

Tony though, has never once shied away from the fact that they weren’t human. Instead, he threw himself into researching everything he could about vampires, and watching him attempt to separate fact from fiction during the early days of Tony and Bucky’s courtship in a way that wouldn’t offend Bucky was a constant source of entertainment for Steve.

While Steve has long since come to terms with his own immortality and existence as a vampire, Bucky struggled with it for years. It wasn’t till Tony’s complete and utter acceptance that Bucky really settled into his skin, and stopped hating the fact that he was a vampire. For that, Steve will gladly help Buck fake a hundred MIT degrees.

“I’m good to go, we stopped by the blood bank earlier today” Bucky assures Tony, “though somehow, I don’t even think that could’ve deterred you from your goal. If it wasn’t this, I’m sure you would’ve come up with another reason for getting ice-cream.”

Tony smiles guilelessly, “I admit to nothing.”

When they get to the shop, Bucky lets go of Tony to head towards the counter, while Tony and Steve go looking for a spot to sit. They’re here enough that they have a standing order: Tony gets coffee, Bucky gets rocky road, and Steve has decided he’s going to try every flavour on offer at least once, so he’s waiting to be surprised.

“Tony!” both Tony and Steve pause their conversation to look up and see Tiberius Stone simpering at their table, hands shoved inside his criminally tight trousers and a cocksure smile on his face, “I didn’t expect to see you here!”

“Ty, I didn’t expect to see you here either,” Tony replies with a smile, and to anyone else it looks genuine, but for the tightness around his eyes, “I didn’t even know you knew about this place.”

“Don’t be silly, I love to come here, isn’t it the most quaint little thing?” If Steve were a betting man (which he was in the 40s), he would bet that Ty’s never stepped foot in this place before today, but he keeps quiet, because if he tries to intervene, he might say something he’ll regret.

Before Tony can reply however, Bucky shows up, looming over Ty, and says in a gruff voice, “You’re in my way.”

Watching the blood drain from Ty’s face when he notices Bucky is a thing of beauty, and he mutters apologies under his breath before hightailing out of the shop as quick as he possibly can.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Tony mutters around a bite of ice-cream, even though he looks entirely too pleased about how Ty ran out to really mean it, “You didn’t have to run him out of here.”

“He was in my way,” Bucky repeats, “And I don’t like when people try and take what’s mine.” He nuzzles at the crook of Tony’s neck, even as Tony yelps and hits him lightly, “I’m not a possession, you caveman.”

“I know,” Bucky admits, pressing a kiss on his cheek, “Still mine though.”

Steve licks at the scoop of ice-cream in his cone - Pecan Nut - and wonders if he could just slip out of his seat and make his way home without being noticed. They’re so wrapped up in their own world that there’s a fair chance that he’d get away with it.

He takes another lick from his ice cream as he contemplates it, and is greeted with the sight of Tony feeding Bucky a bite of his coffee ice-cream. Tony scowls when Bucky makes a production of it, laving it off the spoon with his tongue and the decision is made for Steve. He resolves to leave in the next five minutes.

He won’t even leave money for his share of the bill, it can be their penance for ruining ice cream for him forever. 

_Fin_

**Author's Note:**

> major s/o to Rhae ([starklystar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/starklystar/pseuds/starklystar)) for looking this over for me and helping me iron out any kinks!!  
> i'm also on [tumblr](https://ad1thi.tumblr.com) and [twitter](https://twitter.com/desitonystark)


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